Identification-tag.



0 0 H m, l u d e t n e t a P G A .T MN Um HT SA .w W .T J" E w .I 6 3 5 6 nw N (Application filed Dec. 27, 1899.)

file Model.

u R rF o Zw n KEY RING.

INVENTOR: S HGR'T AT RNEY WITNESSES JEPHB lad? NITLED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH B. SHORT, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE WHITEI-IEAD & HOAG COMPANY, OF NEW JERSEY.

IDENTIFICATION-TAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 653,267, dated July 10, 1900.

Application filed December 27, 1899. Serial No.741,'724. (No model.)

To (0% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OSEPH B. SHORT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jcrsey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Identification-Tags; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention refers to a novel construction of identification-tag to be attached to a key-ring, to an umbrella, or any other package or article. I

My invention has for its primary object to provide a novel construction of identification tag for key-rings or other purposes which shall be very simple and neat in appearance and in which awriting tablet or tablets on which the marks of identification are placed are protected from wear and tear by a pair of covers or protector-plates of a material which is not liable to wear and tear and the soiling of the same when the tag is in use, and the several parts of the tag being arranged in such a manner that when the tag is attached to a key-ring or other article the several tablets and covers are securely held one upon the other and cannot be displaced, thereby fully protecting the identificationtablet, but are capable of their separation when removed from the key-ring or other article to expose to view the reading matter written orprinted on the identification-tablet.

The invention therefore consists in the novel construction of identification-tag hereinafter set forth and in the novel arrangements and combinations of the parts thereof, all of which will be finally set forth in the clauses ofthe claim forming a part of this specification.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a face View of the tag embodying the principles of this invention, illustrating the parts in their closed positions at-.

tached to a key-ring. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the tag, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 4 is a face view of the tag detached from the key-ring or other article, with the parts of the tag separated for the display of the identificationtablet.

Similar letters of reference are employedin the said above-described views to indicate corresponding parts.

In said drawings, A indicates the complete tag, which consists, essentially, of a pair of covers or protector-plates a and a, of any suitable configuration in outline andmade of a suitable material, such as celluloid or the like or sheet metal, which is preferably flexible. At or near one end, as a each cover or plate a and a has a hole or perforation a and at or near the opposite end co of each plate is another hole or perforation a, which is large enough to permit of the attachment of the device on a key-ring b or any other article, such as a strap for attaching the tag to an umbrella or other package. Between these two covers or protector-plates a and a I have placed one or more identification-tablets c, of paper, cardboard, or the like, or said tablet or tablets may be of metal, on which may be written or printed or otherwise placed thereon any suitable matter for the identification of the owner of the tag and the article to which the tag is attached. The said tablet (or tablets) corresponds in its outer contour to that of the covers or plates or and a and is provided at or near its one end 0 with a hole or perforation c and at its other end 0 with a suitable hole 0 corresponding to the holes or perforations a in the covers or plates (1 and a. This tablet or tablets is placed between the covers or plates aand a, as clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, and an eyelet a or other suitable rivet is passed through the holes a in the plates or covers a and a and through the hole. 0 in the tablet c and closed down or riveted against the outer surfaces of the covers or plates a and a, whereby all of the said parts are pivotally connected and can be closed upon each other, as indicated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, or can be separated, as clearly represented in Fig. i of the drawings.

When the parts are closed, they can be eas ily attached to a key-ring or any other articipherable, and, furthermore, owing to the" I claim is cle, as indicated in Fig. 1, for the identification of the article in case of loss.

From the above description of the invention it will be seen that I have devised a neat, simple, and cheaply-constructed identification-tag which can be readily attached to the article and which can be used for a long time without deterioration of the identificationtablet o from wear and tear or from being soiled, and thereby rendering the mark or writing of identification on said tablet undefiexible arrangement of the parts and the light material of which the tag is made, it can be readily attached to a key-ring and carried in the pocket of a garment without wearing out the pocket and cutting or tearing the mat-erial.

When the plates or covers a and a are made of celluloid or other similar material, they may be highly ornamented with any suitable design, picture, or emblem and may also be used for advertising purposes, as will be clearly evident. One or both of said covers a and 0/ have usually printed thereon the words Place this tag on your key-ring, and on the card 0 may be printed In case these keys are lost kindly send them to, and then follows the name and address of the owner; but it will be evident that any other suitable means of identification may be placed on said card a, and the covers a and a may be provided with other printed matter.

One special advantage of providing the protector-plates a and a of a stiffer and more resistible material than the card 0, which necessarily has to be of a softer material to permit writing thereon, is that the ring porforth above I have hereunto set my hand this 22d day of December, 1899.

tablet c from becoming broken, such ring portions at the ends a of the covers will prevent the weaker ring portion at the end c of the tion at the end 0 of the tablet being necessary to retain the tablet 0 between the covers a and a by passing the key-ring b or strap through the hole 0 as will be fully understood.

I am aware that the several holes or perforations in the covers and tablets may be variously disposed and that the general configuration and outline of the tag may be changed and varied without departing from the scope of my present invention. Hence I do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements 1 and combinations of the parts as herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of the construction of such parts.

---Having thus described my invention, what 1. The herein-described identification-tag, consisting, essentially, of a pair of covers or plates at and a of a resistible'material, having holes or perforations a and an intermediate tablet or tablets 0 between said covers or plates a and ct, having a hole or perforation 0 corresponding to the hole a in said covers or plates aand a, and means at the opposite ends of said tablet or tablets and said covers for pivotally connecting the same andpermitting the said covers to slide laterally across said tablet or tablets, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The herein-described identification-tag, consisting, essentially, of a pair of covers or plates a and a of a resistible material, having holes or perforations a and an intermediate tablet or tablets 0 between said covers or plates at and a, having a hole or perforation 0 corresponding to the hole a in said covers or plates aand a, and an eyelet or rivet I d for pivotally securing said tablet and covers or protector-plates together, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

. In testimony that I claim the invention set JOSEPH B. SHORT. 

